Self-unlocking lockup relay



Jan. 4, 1949. H. N. STAATS 2,458,311

SELF-UNLOCKING LOCKUP RELAY Filed Feb. 2, 1945 Hem FIG.6B mac FIG.6D

FIG. 3 INVENTOR.

HENRY N. STAATS ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SELF-UNLOCKING LOCKUP RELAY Henry N. Staats, Chicago, Ill.,assignor to Automatic Electric Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Applicationliebruary 2, 1945, Serial No. 575,910

Claims. 1

The present invention relates in, general to electromagnetic relays, andmore particularly to the self unlocking lock-up type. To this end myinvention relates to that type of relay which, when energized, will moveits armature to a locked position and when energized a second time willrelease the armature from its locked position andmcve thearmature to aforward position, from which the, armature will return directly to itsnormal position after the relay is deenergized.

One-of the objects of this invention is to provide a relay in which athree position armature and one Winding, or. a plurality of windings,will perform the functions of more, than one relay.

Another object of this invention is to provide a relay which willretainits armature in its second position and thereby perform certainexternal circuit functions with its winding or windings deenergized.Further, this relay will move its armature from its second to its thirdposi- I tion when it is energizedto a greater degree, either by appying, a more powerful current to the first winding or the energizationof one or more of its other windings-for the first time, and from thethird position the armature will return directly to its first or normalposition after its winding or windings have been deenergized.

Considerable variation may be exercised in" the construction of this newand improved relay. One method of construction which I propose is termedwedge type and'another is thelatching-spring type. In thewedge type theend of the armature arm is shaped like a wedge, with a notch or shoulderon one side, which notch engages a spring latch after the armature hasmoved apart of its normal stroke distance and the armature will behe din this position after the winding is deenergized and on being energizedto a greater degree the armature will be released from the latch bybeing moved forward to a further position, thatis, to position three.From position three the armature will return directly to its normalposition when the winding is deenergized. In the locking spring type,two springs (Jo-operate with the armature to hold the armature locked inits second position, and to permit the armature to movefrom its secondto its third position, upon bein energized to a greater degree and toallow the armature to return to its first or normal position after thewinding has again been deenergized, From an economical view point theWedge type would probably be preferred, however the latchingspring typemay in some instances be more desirable.

The two types of construction of the new and improved relay will beillustrated and described in the drawings and explanation, which follow.The drawings consist of seven figures on one sheet, as follows:

Figure 1 shows a relay with heel piece, armature, latching spring andtension spring. This is the wedge type construction,

Figure 2 is an enlarged view showing diagrammatically the normalposition of the armature and latching spring of Figure 1.

Figures 2A to 2D are enlarged sectional views taken in the direction ofthe arrows along the line 22 Figure 1, showing the relative positions ofthe armature arm and latching spring of Figure 1 at several points alongthe line of movement of the armature arm.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a part. of the armature arm of Figure 1showing details of the cut away portion to form the shoulder.

Figure 4 is a detail view of the latching spring of Figure 1.

Figure 5 shows a re ay with aheel piece, m0dified armature, armaturetension spring, locking spring and latching spring. This is the latchingspring type construction- Figure 6 is a schematic view of the latchingspring of Figure 5 with its associated locking spring.

Figures 6A to 6D are enlarged views showing diagrammatically therelative positions of the latching spring of Figure 5 with its lockingspring and the end of the armature arm at different stages in theoperation.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of connections which could be used tooperate this relay, by energizing the winding, first through aresistance and, second without a resistance in the circuit.

ihe particu ars of the coil 9, to be used in a relay assembly, woulddepend upon the special requirements offlbhe circuit in which it is tobe used, however for the purpose of this description we will assume acoil with one Winding, this coil to be assembled in the usual way with aheel piece 8. We wi l further assume that the spring pile-up, inaddition to the lock spring 2 and the tension spring 5 (in Figure 1), orin addition to the lock spring H, latch spring [2 and tension spring H(in Figure 5), will consist of two sets of make contact springs. Thefirst set of contacts to make when the armature arm I is moved throughaportion of'its normal stroke distance, to its before-mentioned secondposition, and the second set of spring contacts'to make, just prior tothe completion of the full armature stroke.

The spring pressure, which would be applied at the point 3 on armaturearm I in Figure l or at the point "3 on armature arm M in Figure 5,would be adjusted so that the relay when first energized with a suitableresistance in series with the winding, would have sufficient power tomove the armature through a portion of the total stroke distance, thatis to the point where the armature arm will be engaged by the lockspring. It will be seen, by reference to Figures 1 and 3 that, when theend I of the armature arm 1 moves upwards behind end 4 of lock spring 2,its shoulder 6 will, upon reaching the top edge of the lock spring 2,near the end 4 as shown in Figure 2A, become engaged with this springand the armature will be prevented from returning to its originalposition after the coil is deenergized. Again, in Figure it will be seenthat when the coil 19 is first energized and the armature arm I 3 movesupwards, its end M will be locked in the position shown in Figure 6Awhich is the first portion of the total stroke distance. In bothinstances a first set of contact springs (not shown) would be closedupon the first energization of the coil and the armature arm wouldremain looked after the coil was deenergized. The armature will remainlooked in this so called second position until a second energizationtakes place with current of sufficient power to overcome the springpressure which maintains the armature in its second position. This isaccomplished by energizing the winding the second time from the samepower source but with the resistance shunted from the circuit orenergizing the winding from a power source oi a higher value than theoriginal current. The armature would, due to the increased power of themagnetizing force, continue its movement from position two to positionthree, for instance from position 2A through stage 2B to the thirdposition 2C. The armature will remain in this 20 position until thewinding is deenergized, after which it would return through stage 2D toits normal position as shown in Figure 2. It can be noted that from theposition shown in 2A the armature arm 1 moves upwards when the coil isenergized for the second time through the stage 23 to 2C and at thispoint the tension of the lock spring 2 causes its end 4 to move to theright to' the position shown in 20. After the coil has been deenergizedthe armature arm I will return to normal by a downward movement and thearmature end I will move from the position shown in 20 through stage 2Dto normal as shown in Figure 2. In moving from the position shown in 20to the position shown in Figure 2, the end 1 of the armature caused theend 4 of the lock spring 2 to move to the right, as seen in Figure 2D,but after end 1 has passed the end 4 of spring 2, the spring 2 againmoves to the left and assumes its original position as shown in Figure2.

Figure 5 shows a method of constructing the latch-spring type, whichfunctions the same as the wedge type as explained above, but with aslightly different locking arrangement. This will be clear from aperusal of Figures 6 to 6D, which show the position of the end l4 of thearmature arm I3, in relation to the latch spring l2 and lock spring ll,through several stages of movements. From the normal position of the endl4 of the armature arm l3 as shown in Figure 6, this end M will move,when the armature re- 4 sponds to the first impulse of current throughthe winding of the relay, to position two, as shown in BA. At thisinstant, end N5 of the latch spring 12 moves to the right, as seen inFigure 6A and the end I4 of armature arm l3 will be locked in the secondposition and certain spring contacts will be closed. A second impulse ofcurrent which would have sufiicient power to move the armature againstthe spring pressure which maintained the armature in its secondposition, will move the end M of the armature 53, from position two asshown in Figure 6A through the position shown in 63 to the positionshown in BC. At the instant shown in 63, the end l4 of the armature l3presses against latch spring 12 sufficiently to allow the end l5 of thelatch spring l2 to drop behind the shoulder l5 of the lock spring H asshown in 63. During the time the winding remains energized from thesecond impulse of current, the end l5 of the latch spring l2 will beheld by the shoulder It of the lock spring ll shown in Figure 60. Afterdeenergization of the winding of the relay, its armature will return tonormal and the end IQ of the armature 13 will return from the positionshow in Figure 60 through the stage shown in Figure 8D to the positionshown in Figure 6, and at this instant end II is moved down tounlock theend 15 which is now removed from the control of the shoulder it of lockspring H and therefore the end IE will return to its normal position asshown in Figure 6. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a circuitarrangement showing one method of operating this relay, in which thefirst impulse of current to the relay would result from the operation ofthe non-lock key A. When key A is closed, current from the battery Bwill flow through the winding of relay coil 9, through the contact ofkey A, through the resistance R to the other terminal of the battery. Asthe voltage of the battery is fixed, the power available for operationof the relay armature is controlled by the fixed resistance R, the valueof which has been previously determined. Closing of the key A causes thearmature of the relay to move from the position shown in Figures 2 to2A, after which key A may be opened, and the armature will remain lockedas shown in Figure 2A. For the second energization of the coil 9, key Cwould be closed which would cause the full strength of the battery to beapplied direct to the relay coil. The increased magnetic strength of thecoil core is now sufilcient to overcome the spring tension which hasmaintained the armature in its second position, and the armature willmove from the so called second position 2A to the third position 20. End1 of armature arm i will remain in the position as shown in Figure 2Cduring the time the second energizing force remains, but when thecurrent is disconnected from the coil, the armature will restore tonormal and end I of armature arm 1 will come to rest in its normalposition as shown in Figure 2. It can be noted that armature arm l, inmoving up and down, follows a vertical line but end t of spring 2 willbe pushed aside by arm "i, first to the left when arm I moves up andlater to the right when armature arm restores, but when not influencedby the arm 1, end 4 of spring 2 will be in its normal position as seenin Figure 2.

. Having described the features of this invention, what is considered tobe new and desired to have protected by Letters Patent will be pointedout in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electromagnetic relay, a heel piece, an armature with an arm, aspring, the end of said arm being formed into the shape of an ellipsewith one portion cut away to form a shelf or shoulder for the edge ofsaid spring, said armature having three positions, means for energizingsaid relay to cause said armature to move from said first or normalposition to the said second position in which the shoulder of said armrests on said spring edge, means for energizing the said relay to agreater degree to cause said armature to move from the said second tothe said third position to clear said spring edge, whereby deenergizingsaid relay will permit said armature to return to its said firstposition.

2. In a relay having an energizing coil and an armature, said armaturehaving an arm with its forward end formed into the shape of an ellipsewith one portion cut away to form a shelf, a latching spring cooperatingwith the said shelf of said arm of said armature, said armature moved inone step by one energization of the coil to a position Where saidlatching spring engages and holds said armature, means for unlatchingsaid spring from the armature arm shelf by an additional movement ofsaid armature in response to an increased energization of said coil, andmeans eifective in response to said last means for holding said springfrom engagement with said armature arm shelf to permit release of thearmature.

3. A relay comprising a heel piece, a plurality of spring sets mountedon said heel piece, an armature having a plurality of resting positions,a core with magnetizing means, means for energizing said magnetizingmeans to one degree to cause said armature to be moved from said restingposition number one to resting position number two, means for lockingsaid armature in said position number two after which said magnetizingmeans is deenergized, means for reenergizing said magnetizing means to ahigher degree to cause said armature to be released from said lock andto be moved to said third resting position,

means for deenergizing said magnetizing means I for the second time tocause said armature to be released to the said first position.

4. In a relay having an armature and means for energizing the relay tocause first stage and second stage operations of the armature, alatching spring operative in response to a first stage operation of thearmature, a bent portion of said latching spring effective to latch thearmature against return to normal in response to the first operation ofsaid latching spring, a locking spring having a catch, said latchingspring further operated by said second stage operation of said armatin'eto cause said catch on said locking spring to engage said latchingspring in response to said further operation to render the latchingspring ineffective to latch the armature.

5. In an electromagnetic relay, a heel piece, an armature with an arm, aspring, the end of said armature being formed into the shape of anellipse with one portion cut away leaving a shelf or shoulder for theedge of said spring, said armature having three positions, means forenergizing said relay to cause said armature to move from said firstposition to said second position in which the shoulder of said armaturerests on said spring edge for any period of time after said energizingmeans has been discontinued, means for energizing the relay a secondtime after any period of time to a different degree to cause saidarmature to move from the said second position to a third position toremain for any period of time during which said relay continues toremain energized, said armature returning to the original said firstposition upon being deenelgized.

HENRY N. STAATS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 735,531 Lacey Aug. 4, 1903900,435 Slough Oct. 6, 1908 1,259,901 Parker Mar. 19, 1918 1,724,924Graham Aug. 20, 1929 1,908,567 Steinmayer May 9, 1933 1,964,268Margenstern June 26, 1934

